Harry slowly awoke to the familiar hushed conversation.
Then I felt soreness all over my body, especially in the wound on my arm where blood had been drawn.
He struggled to open his eyes, and his vision gradually focused.
Before me lay an unfamiliar vault.
"He's awake! Madam Pomfrey, he's awake!" Sirius's excited voice rang out, followed by a face of ecstatic joy filling Harry's vision.
" Harry! Merlin, thank goodness! How are you feeling?" Sirius gripped Harry's uninjured hand tightly, so tightly that it hurt Harry a little, but he could feel the uncontrollable trembling in his godfather's hand and the relief of having it back.
"I... I'm fine, Godfather." Harry tried to move, but was stopped by Madam Pomfrey came quickly over.
"Don't move, Mr Potter! You've lost too much blood and have been hit by more than one Stunning Spell and Binding Charm. You need to rest!"
After quickly checking Harry's condition,
Madam Pomfrey then forced him to drink a bottle of a strange-tasting Pepperup Potion that immediately made him feel better.
"It's good that you're awake, it's good that you're awake... Thank you Merlin, and thank you, Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger..."
Upon hearing those two names, Harry froze, fragments of memory beginning to flood back: the attack, the darkness, Voldemort's pale, twisted face, the excruciating pain...
Voldemort - The Resurrection Ritual!
" Voldemort!" Harry struggled to sit up.
"Godfather! Professor Dumbledore! Voldemort! He's back! He used my blood! He's back! We must..." Overwhelmed by fear and a sense of responsibility, Harry didn't even care about his physical weakness.
"Calm down, Harry, calm down!" Sirius quickly pressed him down, while looking at Dumbledore beside him.
Dumbledore stepped forward. " Harry, we already know about Voldemort's resurrection."
"Then we must prepare immediately! He will definitely..."
Harry said urgently.
"He's 'dead,' Harry, tonight!"
Sirius interrupted him with a complex tone, a mixture of the satisfaction of revenge and a sense of disbelief and disorientation.
Harry froze, looking blankly at his godfather.
Then he looked at Dumbledore, and finally at the others... None of them had a joking expression on their faces.
"Dead... dead?" Harry repeated in a low voice. "How can this be? He just came back to life! He was so powerful..."
"It's Draco." Dumbledore only stated the result.
"He and Hermione tracked down to the location where Voldemort had resurrected, fought him, and ultimately... defeated him. You were successfully rescued thanks to them."
Draco Hermione defeated Voldemort?!
This information shocked and amused Harry more than Voldemort's resurrection itself. He knew Draco was strong, and Hermione was smart and brave, but... that was Voldemort!
Even Professor Dumbledore struggled to deal with the Dark Lord! And these two... killed him?
Harry opened his mouth but couldn't say a word.
A sense of unreality washed over him. The enemy that had haunted him for over a decade, the one that had become his nightmare, was just... gone?
Seeing Dumbledore's calm face, Sirius nodded affirmatively, and there were approving glances from those around him.
Harry knew this was no joke...
"I... I need some peace and quiet." That was all Harry could manage to say, his mind a complete mess.
"Of course, child." Dumbledore. "You should rest well. Madam Pomfrey will take good care of you; your health is the most important thing right now."
Dumbledore told everyone to return to Hogwarts first.
Back to the castle,
The Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who had been waiting anxiously, rushed up.
"Oh, Harry!" Molly was the first to rush forward, ignoring Madam Pomfrey's attempts to stop her, and hugged Harry tightly.
Tears welled up in her eyes. "You scared us to death! Thank you Merlin, for coming back safely! Thank you Merlin!"
Hagrid's massive body pushed through the crowd, his large eyes brimming with tears. He reached out his large, fan-like hand, wanting to pat Harry's head, but then hesitated, afraid of hurting him. In the end, he could only choke out:
"Good job, Harry! It's good to be back! It's good to be back! I knew you'd be alright!"
Harry, on the stretcher, was overwhelmed with everyone's concern.
The professors then turned their attention to the other two students who had just experienced a life-or-death adventure that evening.
Professor McGonagall walked over, her serious gaze softening slightly as she swept over the two of them, who appeared tired but unharmed.
" Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger," the professor's sense of responsibility compelled her to speak, "The actions you have taken tonight are extremely, extremely risky and reckless!"
Their gazes immediately fell on Hermione, finding it hard to believe that this most disciplined and exemplary student would be involved.
"Confronting the Dark Lord and infiltrating Gringotts' vault... this is completely beyond the bounds of what students should do! You should have informed the professor immediately, not acted on your own!"
" Professor McGonagall is right, children! Courage is commendable, but the method is wrong!" Professor Flitwick agreed, floating over from a floating book.
"Any act of individual heroism is dangerous when facing Voldemort. You should trust that the professors are capable of handling this!"
" Miss Granger, I've always considered you to be the most rational student. How could you be so impulsive this time? Did you even consider the consequences?" Professor Sprout rarely criticized her like this.
Faced with a barrage of concerned reproaches from three deans and professors, Hermione blushed and, in a moment of shame, quickly came up with a clever idea.
Hermione glanced quickly at Draco, who seemed completely uninvolved beside her, then put on an expression as if she had been forced into this situation. She pointed at Draco and complained to the professors, sounding aggrieved.
"Professor, this... this isn't entirely my fault!"
"It's Draco!"
"He received a letter and concluded that Harry's life was in danger, and that Voldemort might have already begun his resurrection ritual!"
"He said there wasn't enough time to wait for the professor; even a second's delay could have been disastrous for Harry! I... I stopped him, saying it was too dangerous and we should have told you first, Professor McGonagall!"
"But he said saving lives was the priority and that I was confident, so he grabbed me and used Apparition to run away!"
"I... I couldn't stop them at all! And I was so worried about Harry... so... I had no choice but to go with them..."
Hermione also lowered her head at the opportune moment.
She acted as if she were a good student led astray by bad students, but the peeks she gave Draco betrayed her.
This blame-shifting technique was so smooth and sincere that it firmly pinned the blame on Draco.
Professor Babbling witnessed Draco's terrifying strength during the Ancient Magic Trials and roughly guessed that what would be a deadly situation for others tonight might just be a troublesome matter for Draco that required some effort.
Seeing Hermione's masterful performance of shirking responsibility, and Draco's speechless expression, was quite a sight.
She finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.